Tracy Unified drafts local control plan

TRACY - Across California, school districts are grappling with a new funding law that shifts spending decisions from the state to the individual district called the Local Control Funding Formula.

Joe Goldeen

TRACY - Across California, school districts are grappling with a new funding law that shifts spending decisions from the state to the individual district called the Local Control Funding Formula.

Last month, the 17,000-student Tracy Unified School District completed a two-week survey available to all community members, as required, that allowed participants the opportunity to rank desired actions and budget priorities as part of the Local Control Accountability Plan. More than 500 people took part in the Tracy survey, including 250 teachers, 127 parents, 82 classified employees and 21 students.

As part of the new funding law, the California Department of Education requires each district to file its accountability plan by July 1 showing how it is providing academic funding for all students while also targeting those identified as disadvantaged such as English language learners, students with disabilities and foster youth.

"The state has shifted away from a funding method where they have given us two general pots of money," said Casey Goodall, associate superintendent for business services at Tracy Unified.

"Now they are saying, 'We are going to be giving you the same money as before, and you must show us how you are going to be meeting the critical needs of these special groups of students.' They are giving us the discretion," Goodall said.

Once the accountability plan is drafted, it will be posted and a public hearing will be conducted at the June 10 school board meeting. The public will be allowed to provide feedback and then the plan will be considered for adoption by the board at its June 24 meeting. It will then be sent to the San Joaquin County Office of Education for review before being forwarded to the state.

The plan is required as a part of the new budgeting process to identify goals and measure progress for the targeted student subgroups.

"It's the creation of a new plan that focuses on how a district will utilize the (plan's) money to support academic achievement. It is for all students, but there are (state) funds coming to the district that include a portion designed for all students and a portion designed for specified groups," said Tracy Unified's director of alternative programs, Linda Dopp.

"The new group of students in the mix are the foster youth. This is the first time you have to be attendant to the needs of foster youth," Dopp said. "Now we must be more focused on helping them with their educational needs." The district has identified more than 100 foster children attending its 16 schools.

Goodall explained that previously, students identified as foster youth were monitored, "but now the Legislature is saying they are just as much at risk as an English language learner or a student in poverty, and we should treat them as such."

The community survey was divided into six sections. It asked the 528 respondents to rank their top five desired actions and spending priorities. Following are the top two responses for each section:

Dopp explained that once the priorities are adopted, they will guide district decisions for the next three years but may not necessarily be adopted or implemented in the first year.

"You listen to what the teachers are saying, the parent advisory groups and the community at large, and you start putting the pieces together. Those are pretty much the elements that rose to the top," Dopp said.

"Right now, a lot of our efforts are focused on staff development, training students on the ins and outs of the new Common Core (academic standards) and effectively implementing it for all students," she said.

The district will continue to focus on providing additional support systems such as tutoring and after-school programs as well as more access to technology, counselors or appropriate staff to help the students and their families.

"The overriding premise is that we want them to leave the schools college and career ready. Some parents have not been comfortable being around schools, so part of this process is reaching out to parents, extending it further so they feel they can better understand how to support their children through education," Dopp said.

Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278. Follow him at recordnet.com/goldeenblog and on Twitter @joegoldeen.